Highly Suspect hit the stage in front of passionate fans at the Vibrant Music Hall in Waukee, Iowa, on Sunday, September 27, 2026. [Photo credit: Pam Whisenhunt]

PAM WHISENHUNT | Go Venue Magazine

Yelawolf and Highly Suspect brought their co-headlining War Within Tour to Vibrant Music Hall in Waukee, Iowa, on Sunday, September 27, 2026. Before the show I chatted with a couple near the front. One was there for Highly Suspect, the other for Yelawolf. One liked rock, the other liked rap. That turned out to be the theme of the whole night, and this pairing turned out to be a match I didn’t know I needed.

East Texas rockers Passengers Unknown opened the night with a jolt of energy. They started with their original work and kept the crowd engaged the whole way through. At one point they set up a competition between the guys and the girls: whoever gave the biggest “hell yeah” got a song. The girls won. Lead singer Jobee Bowley’s shirt came off, and the band broke into a cover of Ginuwine’s “Pony.”

Before wrapping up, the band had one question before they left: do you like girls with tattoos? They closed with their most popular song, “Girls With Tattoos.”

Yelawolf took a stage bathed in red light, smoke rolling across the floor, with the front end of a classic car with flame detailing doubling as DJ Klever’s turntable. Catfish Billy came out in shades, a yellow jacket, a yellow hat and red shoes, opening with “Outer Space” and “Growin’ Up in the Gutter.” What really won the crowd over was when he leaned back against the car and gave us the rapid-fire flow of “Catfish Billy.” He asked if this was anyone’s first Yelawolf show, and nearly every hand in the room went up.

His set was a hip hop journey. He told us that putting this tour together with Highly Suspect made perfect sense. He said he’s a little bit hood, trying to find his trailer park, and his 16-song set took us through all of it: “Best Friend,” “Pop the Trunk,” “Billy Crystal,” “Daddy’s Lambo,” “You and Me,” his new single “My Country,” released just this month, and his personal favorite from Love Story, “Empty Bottles.”

Highly Suspect capped off the night with a very different set. They took us back to 2015, opening with four songs from their debut album Mister Asylum: “Bloodfeather,” “23,” “Bath Salts” and “Lost.”

Frontman Johnny Stevens singled out a kid in the crowd and made him the center of a circle pit. This kid is the one to protect, he told us. Circle around him. He even challenged all the millennials in the room to show them how it’s done. Despite Stevens’ best efforts, it didn’t quite work out.

When “Lydia” came up, Stevens asked the crowd who wanted to finish the song and brought a couple of guys up on stage to do it. One of them, although out of tune, belted it out like nobody was listening. He was living his best life for sure.

Then the band left the stage, and Stevens brought out his dog, telling us that dog has saved him more times than he can count. He sat on the stage stairs with his dog and performed “Fly.” When the song ended, he made a plea to the room: if you need to call someone, call them.

Highly Suspect finished out the set with “The National Anthem,” “Run for Your Death (More Pills),” a “Serotonia”/“Wolf” mix, “My Name Is Human,” “Claudeland” and “Pink Lullabye,” with plenty of jamming and crowd interaction throughout.

Yelawolf and Highly Suspect put on very different sets, but the same threads ran through both: mental health, personal trauma, struggle and addiction, all wrapped up in blue-collar roots and tattoos. Two very different bands that worked together perfectly. Whichever side of the show you came for, I’m pretty sure you left a fan of the other side too.

The War Within Tour rolls on to Bismarck, North Dakota, on Tuesday and wraps October 15 in Flagstaff, Arizona. If it comes anywhere near you, go.

Highly Suspect Passengers Unknown All images © Pam Whisenhunt

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